Envelope dispensing device



g- 19, 1958 H. w. CRAMER 2,848,137

- ENVELOPE DISPENSING DEVICE Filed Deb. 8, 1954 3 FIG? INVENTOR HAROLD n. CRAMER WWW/ ATTORNEYS nited rates This invention relates to an envelope dispensing device and more particularly to a novel self-contained unit comprising a housing for a supply of envelopes and a dispensing mechanism for dispensing single envelopes from the housing.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a novel envelope dispensing unit which is so constructed and arranged as to be capable of housing and dispensing envelopes of various sizes without the necessity of utilizing a complicated and costly construction.

A further object is to provide in an envelope dispensing unit of the above type, a novel housing construction which is capable of ready and quick adjustment in order to accommodate envelopes of various lengths and various widths.

Another object is to provide a novel arrangement of guides in the envelope housing which permits the envelopes to be readily stacked in the housing and which ensures that the bottom envelope of the stack will be readily guided into a dispensing position without any jamming of the envelopes.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel mechanism for dispensing the bottom envelopes from the stack in the housing, one at a time.

A further object resides in the provision of a novel arrangement for preventing jamming of the envelopes during dispensing thereof and for ensuring the Withdrawal of single envelopes during the dispensing operation.

Other objects and novel features of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter from a consideration of the following detailed description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which are illustrative of one form of the invention. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are utilized for purposes of illustration only and are not to be taken as a definition of the limits of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

In the drawings, wherein similar reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the novel envelope housing and dispensing unit of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus of Fig. 1 with the housing top and the front door of the housing removed;

Fig. 3 is a partial view in section taken along line 33 of Fig. 2 and illustrates the manner in which the envelopes are stacked in the housing and dispensed therefrom;

Fig. 4 is a partial view in section of a portion of the apparatus to illustrate the manner in which the rear envelope slide may be adjusted in the housing to accommodate envelopes of different lengths;

Fig. 5 is a partial view of the front of the apparatus of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the rear face of one of the envelopes and illustrates the dispensing flap which is normally folded against the rear face of the envelope.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 1 of the drawings, the novel envelope dispensing device of the present invention is illustrated therein as comprising a housing 10 for the envelopes, and a dispensing base 12 on which the envelopes are stacked and from which base they are dispensed, one at a time, in a manner which will appear atent ice more fully hereinafter. More particularly, the housing 10 is provided with a bottom wall 14, on which the base 12 is supported, opposite side walls 16 and 18, and a rear wall 20. The open top is closed by a removable top member 22 and the front of the housing is formed by the front face 24 of the base 12 and by a door 26 which may be provided with a suitable lock or latch 28 for cooperation with a channel shaped bar 30 which connects and braces the upper forward corners of the side walls 16 and 18. In order to provide a simplified construction, the dispensing base 12 is comprised of a single piece which is preferably a casting, which is supported at the rear thereof upon a suitable support 32 fixed to the bottom wall 14. At its forward portion, the base 12 is provided with a pair of integral lugs 34 and 36 which are apertured to receive bolts 38 and 40 which firmly secure the base 12 to the side walls 16 and 18. As will be clear from Figs. 1 and 2, the sides of the door 26 are slotted at 42 so that the door may pivot about the bolts 3-8 and 40. In this manner, the door 26 may be readily moved to the open position illustrated in Fig. 1 so that the stacked envelopes may be readily inserted into the housing to rest upon the base 12. On the other hand, the envelopes may be loaded from the top of the apparatus by merely removing the top 22, if desired. Thus the apparatus may be used for the front or top loading of envelopes and hence is readily adaptable for various types of installations.

A novel construction is provided by the invention for readily adapting the housing for the efficient accommodation of envelopes of different lengths and difierent widths. Referring more particularly to Figs. 1, 2 and 4, such construction includes a pair of side guide members or plates 44 and 46 and a rear guide member or plate 48, all of said members being angularly related with respect to the housing side and rear walls and providing an efficient means for guiding the bottom envelopes of the stack into a proper dispensing position on the base 12 without jamming. As shown, all of the guide members 44, 46 and 48 are of relatively thin metal stock and all are provided with bottom lugs which may be inserted in different slots in the base 12 for envelopes of difierent sizes. For example, the guide 44 has bottom lugs 50 and 52 which may be inserted in slots 54, 56 or 58, 60 respectively. In like manner, the guide 46 has bottom lugs 62 and 64 which may be inserted in slots 66, 68 or 70,

72 respectively. The rear guide is provided with a single lug 14 which may be inserted in any of the slots 76. It will be clear from Figs. 1 and 4 that an inturned marginal flange 78 is provided at the top of the housing 10 and that the upper edges of the guides engage said flange in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4. In the position shown in this last mentioned figure, the natural flexibility of the metal enables the guide 48 to be readily sprung into 'position where it assumes a slightly curved condition.

From the foregoing, it will be readily seen that the guide members 44, 46 and 48, together with the front door 26, form a hopper for the reception of a stack of envelopes which may be loaded through the front or top of the unit to rest upon the base 12 for subsequent dispensing from the housing. The arrangement of the various slots in the base 12 which cooperate with the lugs of the respective guide members 44, 46 and 48 provides a highly efficient construction for readily and quickly varying the size of the hopper to properly guide envelopes of different sizes into proper dispensing position and without jamming.

In additional to the foregoing novel features, the invention provides a novel construction for efliciently dispensing the envelopes, one at a time. Referring more particularly to Figs. 3, 5 and 6, it is seen that the envelope 80 is rectangular in outline and provided with the usual glue flap 82. In addition, the flap 82 is provided with a tab 84 which is normally folded toward the flap 82. Thus, when the envelopes are stacked in the hous ing 10, all of the tabs 84 are arranged at the bottom and are folded over into contact with their associated glue flaps. However, due to the natural resilience of the paper of the envelopes, the tab 84 of the bottom envelope springs downwardly a slight amount and out of contact with its associated glue flap, so as to be readily engageable by a dispensing finger .86, see Fig. 3.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 4, the dispensing finger 86 is formed at the outer end of a slide 88 which constantly bears upon the lower face of the. base 12 and is suitably connected at its inner end to a collar 90 which is carried by a manually operable plunger 92. The plunger 92 is slidably mounted in a supporting lug 94, depending from the base 12, and slidably extends through the front of the base 12, the outer end of the plunger 92 being provided with a suitable knob 96 so that the plunger and finger 86 may be readily reciprocated by the operator of the unit. A spring 98, interposed between the collar 90 and the lug 94, serves to maintain the parts in the normal positionshown in Fig. 3.

In normal use, the guides 44, 46 and 48 are positioned in the proper slots in the base 12, as heretofore set forth, in order to adaptthe unit for the proper size envelope. With the parts thus adjusted, the bottom envelope of the stack will assume the positions shown in Figs. 2 and 3 where the forward edge of the envelope 80 engages the inner face of the front wall 26, and the tab 84 springs downwardly a slight amount. A pull on the knob 96 will then serve to move the plunger 92 and the dispensing finger 86 to the right, against the action of spring 98, and the finger 86 will engage the tab 84 and move it downwardly to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3. In this connection, it is desired to point out that while the front door 26 and the dispensing base 12 are spaced apart to provide a relatively narrow slot 100, through which the bottom envelopes may be dispensed from the unit, see Fig. 5, it is preferred to provide a depending portion 102 at the central portion of the bottom edge'of the door 26 which functions as a stop for the bottom envelope during the dispensing operation. The forward portion of the base 12 is moreover provided with a well 104 constituting a finger recess to enable the bottom envelopes to be readily dispensed. Thus, as the dispensing finger 86 is moved forwardly, as above described, it will engage the tab 84 and move the latter into engagement with the stop 2, whereupon further forward movement of the finger will be arrested. When the knob 96 is released, the plunger 92 and the finger 86 will be returned by the action of the spring 98, to the position shown in Fig. 3. However, the tab 84 will remain in the dotted line position shown in Fig. 3 where it projects downwardly from the stop 102 and into the Well 104 so as to be readily seen by the user of the apparatus. When this depending tab is observed by the user, it is only necessary to manually grasp the tab 84 and pull the bottom envelope through the slot 100. As the bottom envelope is thus removed, the next adjacent envelope will engage the stop 102 in order to prevent removal of that envelope. Thus, the stop 102 not only serves as an abutment for the dispensing finger 86 to enable the tab 84 to be moved downwardly to be observable by the user, but also serves as an abutment for the next adjacent envelope to assure dispensing of the envelopes, one at a time.

The present invention thus provides a novel and efficient envelope dispensing device which comprises relatively few parts and which may be especially adapted for use with after-hour depositories where the envelopes may be used for the deposit of currency or the payment of bills of public utilities, for example. The device could also be equipped with a suitable coin control mechanism in which event, the apparatus could be utilized for dispensing stamped envelopes containing writing paper, for example. The use of the adjustable envelope guides enables the apparatus to be readily adjusted for use with envelopes of different sizes and the location and angular inclination of these guides also ensures that the bottom envelope will be guided into proper dispensing position with respect to the base and the front door 26 without danger of any jamming of the envelopes at the bottom of the stack. Further important features reside in the arrangement of the dispensing finger and the stop at the bottom of the front door, the advantages of these elements having been heretofore pointed out in detail.

While the invention has been shown and described herein with considerable particularity, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications may he resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention. Reference will therefore be had to the appended claims for a definition of the limits of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An envelope dispensing device comprising a housing having a base for receiving a stack of envelopes, each of said envelopes having a flap provided with a centrally positioned folded tab, said housing provided with a front wall having a dispensing slot therein and said base having a recess below the slot, said recess providing a finger receiving opening extending rearwardly of said front wall and said envelopes being positioned so that the tab of the bottom envelope registers with said recess, a fixed stop formed on the front wall centrally thereof and projecting below the slot into said recess in alignment with said tab, and means for engaging the folded tab of the bottom envelope of the stack and moving it downwardly in said recess and into positive abutting engagement with said stop, so that the tab may be manually grasped and the bottom envelope pulled through said slot.

2. An envelope dispensing device comprising a housing having a bottom wall, side walls, a back wall and an open front, a dispensing base removably mounted in the housing on said bottom wall, said base having a flat top face for receiving a stack of envelopes each of which is provided with a flap having a centrally positioned folded tab and said base having a front face partially closing the open front of the housing, a front door removably secured to the base and having its lower edge spaced above the top face of the base to provide a narrow slot to allow dispensing of envelopes therethrough, said base having a centrally positioned recess below the slot providing a finger receiving opening extending rearwardly of the front face thereof and said envelopes being positioned so that the tab of the bottom envelope registers with said recess, a fixed stop formed on the lower edge of said front door centrally thereof and projecting into said recess in alignment with said tab, means including a movable finger for engaging the folded tab of the bottom envelope of the stack and moving it downwardly in said recess and into positive abutting engagement with said stop, so that the tab may be manually grasped and the bottom envelope pulled through said slot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS (First addition to 533,343 

